Whatever nagging questions there were about the Lakers’ status as a formidable playoff opponent were answered Sunday afternoon with a flurry of blocked shots and an overpowering display of suffocating defense.

The Lakers smacked the life out of the Denver Nuggets, taking a 103-88 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series at Staples Center. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Tuesday night.

The third-seeded Lakers contained the No. 6 Nuggets’ top scorers, with 7-foot center Andrew Bynum tying an NBA playoff record with 10 blocks to go with 10 points and 13 rebounds for his first career triple-double.

Coach Mike Brown called Bynum a “monster” and a “beast.” Brown also said if Bynum continues to play with the gusto he did Sunday, “being the monster he was patrolling the paint, we’ll be playing a long time.”

The Lakers’ return to the playoffs after their embarrassing ouster last May in four games by the eventual NBA champion Dallas Mavericks was nearly flawless. They never trailed and led by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Steve Blake helped to set the Lakers on the right course by making three 3-pointers in 3 minutes, 17 seconds in the first quarter. Blake finished with nine points despite playing with a nagging illness that kept him in bed for most of Saturday.

Devin Ebanks scored eight of his 12 points in the second quarter, filling in capably for the suspended Metta World Peace at small forward. Ebanks also helped to slow down Denver’s Danilo Gallinari, who had a team-leading 19 points.

The Lakers shot 50 percent (43 of 86) and held Denver to 35.6 percent shooting (32 of 90), making the defensive-minded Brown a happy man after becoming the first Lakers coach other than Phil Jackson to win a playoff game in this century.

With Bynum leading them, the Lakers also had 15 blocked shots, a team record.

“They really played the game the right way on the defensive end of the floor,” Brown said of the Lakers. “We had very few breakdowns.

Obviously, Denver missed some shots and we understand that they’ll come out and be better Tuesday.”

Ty Lawson, the Nuggets’ leading scorer during the regular season with an average of 16.4 points, had a miserable game. He didn’t score his first point until sinking a free throw early in the third quarter and didn’t get his first basket until early in the fourth.

Lawson finished with seven points on 3-for-11 shooting and had two assists.

Slowing him to a crawl was a key to the lopsided final score, Gasol said.

“We didn’t allow Lawson to get going and attack the paint, that was important,” Gasol said. “We can’t bank on that every time, but I was happy to see the level of activity we brought in today. We need to continue to bring it throughout the series.”

Denver averaged a league-leading 104 points and finished the regular season by dropping 131 on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. The Nuggets didn’t reach 50 until Andre Miller’s driving layup midway through the third quarter Sunday, however.

The Nuggets wanted to run.

The Lakers wanted to walk and they got what they wanted from the start.

“They stopped us from doing what we wanted to do,” Denver’s Al Harrington said after scoring 10 points on only 4-for-14 shooting.

“We’ve got to do a better job of executing and running a little faster and running a little harder.

“I expect us to play a better Game 2.”

It wasn’t just the Lakers’ defense that hurt the Nuggets, however.

The Lakers solved Denver’s double-teaming defense by passing the ball to open teammates, setting an early tone with their unselfish play.

Bryant scored only eight points in the first half, for example, but Ebanks had 12 and Blake added nine.

Bynum’s answer for the double- and triple-teaming he faced in the low post was to chase rebounds and hit his open teammates on the perimeter with quick passes. He also took out his frustrations on the Nuggets’ shooters.